Dr. Kathy Gray

CURE-E Course: Introduction to Statistics (MATH 105)

Project Title: Quantifying Chico State Students Ecological Footprint

Students will work throughout the semester on quantify the water footprint of Chico State students. Activities are built into the curriculum and we will focus on interventions to reduce the overall water footprint of Chico State students. 

There are two bigger activities which will provide new knowledge:

1. Quantifying Shower Water Footprint: Students will estimate their shower flow rate and shower time and frequency in order to compute annual shower water. We will be comparing on-campus and off-campus shower water usage. We will also be quantifying how much each water each dorm uses and investigate ways to reduce this value. We will also examine whether students that pay their own water bill take shorter showers compared to students that don’t pay their own water bill.
2. Food waste: Students will collect data on their own food waste. We will weigh the food waste and estimate the water footprint of the food waste. We will be researching whether students that eat at the dorm have more food waste than other students. We will also look at the relationship between how much the meal cost and the food waste and reasons for food waste. Students will then brainstorm ways to cut back on food waste and we will quantify how much food (and water) would be saved through these interventions.